For the past month, I’ve been studying and watching videos, doing the live Q&A with the creator dietician, and I’m super delighted that I passed the exam! I’m a certified Mindset Mentor!! Bring on the clients! I’m trained to help you lose weight happily!
fitness journey
5 years!!
Happy Birthday Team Momentum! 5 years ago I signed up to coach not knowing that a whole team was coming. I was a newish mom with a toddler and a baby and I knew I had to get healthy or would face more insulin injections. I never dreamed I’d be able to finish one workout program much less 24! I never knew there were such positive, encouraging, uplifting people in this world who would help me in my journey.
5 down and an eternity to go! Happy Birthday Team Momentum! May we always encourage each other and help others build the momentum in their health journeys!
I’m stopping round 2 of 80DO early…
I have loved this second round of 80DO, but I’m super psyched for the new weights and cardio program LIIFT4!! Joel Freeman is a favorite trainer (he and Jericho McMatthews did my soulmate Core De Force) and I can’t want to start his new program.
Here’s the prep schedule I’m going to do.
Transformation Tuesday 80 Day Obsession
The rest of the workouts flew by. We did a lot of zoom calls on Saturday mornings to do our cardio flow workouts together. They are SO much better with friends.
After 80 Days, I learned to prioritize sleep and practice self-care. I fell in love with my foam roller and stretching and made it a part of my weekly schedule. Sometimes it’s not about the before and after pictures, it’s about learning how to improve yourself and be your best self.
The results were pretty awesome.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen some carving on the front of my core!
MOMentum Monday
Momlife is no joke. The timed meal plan is definitely helping me with discipline and using those bits of time to strategically get things done. Here’s what my day looked like.
6:48 wake up before alarm. Roll over for a bit more sleep
7:30 get up
7:50 downstairs and putting together preworkout meal. Remember to test blood sugar before eating. Happy with fasting number improvement.
8:08 done with preworkout meal. Put in trash bag.
8:10 go into the office to load posts for 2 fit friend groups.
8:40 back downstairs for energize and to make iced tea for hubby.
8:45 on the couch with the high temperature blanket to do yesterday’s row and think about the highs of this weekend. Mindfulness is so good. Take laundry down 2 flights and throw in a load.
9:15 workout
10:30 recover with raspberries
10:45 take out recycling and move laundry
11-12 shower and change and post workout meal
12-2 homeschooling
2:05 eat meal
2:15-3:15 pack up prizes for team
3:30-3:50 post office
4:00 gymnastics and finishing school with L
4:30 meal
5:30 home from gymnastics
7:30 dinner
8:00 family game time
10:00 hopeful for bedtime!!
Test Group Day 1
So I got into an exclusive test group for a new timed nutrition and workout plan that lasts 80 Days. I’m excited because I need to keep up on workouts and this will motivate me to keep going!
Today I made spaghetti squash in the Instant Pot because it cooks so quickly and I can walk away from it. I hate having to turn on the oven for a small thing like this, so the IP is perfect.
- Cut squashes in half with a sharp knife
- Scoop out seeds
- Add 1c of water to the Instant Pot
- Put in the trivet
- Add the squash cut side up
- Cook on high pressure (HP) for 8 min with quick release of pressure when it’s done.
For my next meal I needed to eat a fruit, veggie and fat. I accidentally created the most amazing thing.
Ok, first, for those of you who don’t know me, I grew up in Cleveland area. My dad took us to Skyline Chili any time he had to feed us between our activities and Mom was away. Spaghetti with chili and cheese was a staple as well as the coneys. I love the flavors.
Today, I made a gluten free, chili free, 3 way with spaghetti squash, by accident!!
After the spaghetti squash was cooked, I dumped 1💚 in my bowl with 1💙 of shredded cheddar cheese and about 1/2t of taco seasoning. It blew me away with how much it tasted like Skyline spaghetti but without the heavy noodles or chili. Just the chili flavor with lots of melted cheese and a noodlelike texture. Win! I’ll be making this again. Easy and delicious. Spices make the difference.
Addiction
It’s interesting this was part of my fit book club reading for today. I have been thinking a lot about addiction this week. My fitness accountability twin (same birthday!) and I were talking about how if we hadn’t found workouts and healthy food we would probably be caught up in a less positive addiction. We are still tied to scale and size, but working towards healthy balanced lives and it could always be worse.
I realized that considering myself as an empowered addict was actually a helpful mindset. This weekend I wanted the instant gratification of junk food. Brownies, bread, ice cream, pizza, the stuff I don’t eat usually. It tasted amazing (haven’t eaten it in so long) but the body aches, lethargy and GI bloat stink.
I was talking to another friend today about how a loved one is struggling with drugs. And how hard it is to get clean and not go back to the old life and old habits. It was a super helpful conversation to me. I need to have the mindset of someone in recovery. Mine is from putting poisons in my body that cause inflammation and dwelling in negativity. No going back.
Do I have anything to share?
I had gotten into a good rhythm of blogging when I felt I had something to share updates about. Then self-doubt hit and I was sure that there were more interesting blogs to follow and that my story isn’t exciting. Today I decided that this is my blog so it’s important to share what’s going on with me.
So here’s the update:
- I’m getting ready to certify in Core De Force in July. It’s been sort of a holding pattern in my workouts, I do something every day but didn’t have a new schedule to complete till this week when I started the new beginner program YOUv2. I have had people tell me they think it will be too easy but I am loving it. It uses my body in new ways. I’m using the All Access Netflix of fitness system to access the workouts.
- After 10ish years of OrthoK lenses, hubby talked me into prepping for lasik. It’s been 2 nights of no lenses and my vision is BAD. I’m sure there’s a life lesson in here about realizing how blind I really am and how for so long I’ve thought I had clarity. Back in my night driving glasses for a tiny bit of help.
- My 100 books in 2017 challenge is going really well. I’m at almost 40 books and have really appreciated the perspective change as I fill my mind with good and interesting things.
- We have 3 weeks left of homeschooling for the year. As I write our lesson plans each weekend it’s amazing to me to look back at all the 30+ weeks that are done. Time moves on and it’s amazing all we have covered.
- Our city garden is in as of last night and I’m looking forward to fresh tomatoes and veggies.
That’s the update for me. How’s life been for you?
Motivating Metrics Monday!
I’m at 3.5 years of working out and decided I needed to review ways that I’m tracking my progress.
- The scale is a daily friend. I’ve had the one pictured above for over a decade and it’s been with me through moving into my first apartment, second apartment, across the country, and into married life. I hang on to it because it’s consistent. I use the same one in the same place on the floor in our house and weigh first thing in the morning. Any increase used to bum me out but now it just tells me how I ate the day before. Too much salt? Too many bloating foods? Super clean and healthy? It also tells me fat % and even if it’s not perfect using the same scale keeps it consistent.
- Sleep. I wear a Fitbit flex (more info tomorrow for Tech Tuesday!) to track my sleep. My goal is 6 hours but sometimes I’ll add a little more if the girls are sick, I’ve had hard workouts and need a little more rest, or if I just need it.
- Measuring tape. I always measure before and after a new workout schedule. Sometimes the measurements change a lot, sometimes they barely move. It’s another thing I track to see how things are changing.
- Labs are essential for me. I am doing this whole healthy lifestyle thing because I’m fighting full blown diabetes (right now I’m a recovered insulin-dependent gestational diabetic who is “glucose intolerant” or “prediabetic.”) I don’t test every morning but will periodically spot check my fasting levels. It helps me know how I’m doing with nutrition and also reminds me I don’t want to have to do this multiple times a day.
Those are my top 4. Which things do you measure to track progress?
Core De Force Day 32
Dynamic strength is long but so good. I will conquer the sphinx blasters and all the push-ups. For this round I’m focused on doing as much on my toes as possible before dropping to my knees.
Excuse the horrible tank. It’s comfy and quick.
Coach Tiffany Birkholz 